About the author:
Tejvan organises short-distance running and cycling races for the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team in his home city of Oxford. He is also a very good cyclist, having won the National hill climb championships in 2013 and finished 3rd in the National 100 Mile Time Trials in 2014.My Experiences of Cycling
By Richard Pettinger
I started cycling when I was about 14. I joined a local cycling club (Otley CC) in my native Yorkshire. Sunday club runs were very much social events with at least 2 or 3 café stops during the day. It was a fairly relaxed pace but we would often cycle 100 miles +.
Later when I went to Oxford University, I joined Oxford University Cycling Club. There were some very good riders during my time, including the 5 times hill climb champion, Jim Henderson. As the club was more focused on racing I started to train for events. I became quite fit, but before I was able to race, a series of injuries and illnesses combined to stop me riding for quite a few years.
When I was 22 I became a meditation student of Sri Chinmoy. At that time I did little exercise and I was pleasantly surprised to find that Sri Chinmoy actively promoted exercise as an integral part of a spiritual life.
Initially I tried running for a while. I found I quite enjoyed running but a serious knee injury encouraged myself to return to cycling. When my knee was finally better I gently started to cycle. This rekindled my earlier love of cycling and after a year of riding on my own. I joined a local cycling club Oxonians and started to compete in local races. In my first year of racing (2004) I won a few local club time trials and did well in some Open hill Climbs.
Sri Chinmoy Cycling Team
This year with the encouragement of Sri Chinmoy we decided to set up the Sri Chinmoy Cycling Team. Apart from myself we have a small number of riders in the UK and quite a few in America. In August I spent a couple of weeks in New York and was glad for the opportunity to go for training rides with locals who knew how to avoid the worst of the New York traffic.
I organise running races for the Sri Chinmoy M.T. in Oxford and therefore I am happy to be able to race for the Sri Chinmoy Cycling Team. The Sri Chinmoy Cycling Team is very similar to the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team. Both share the same philosophy of promoting self- transcendence through sport.
This is a photo from the Self- Transcendence Marathon, NY 2004.
Being a lead cyclist is the best way to do a marathon!
More Cycling articles are available on my website RichardPettinger.com